BASEBALL; Matsui Signs Just in Time

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: November 16, 2005

Arn Tellem said Monday that he and his client Hideki Matsui were ''exploring the great restaurants of New York.'' They dined again yesterday for the third night in a row, and the meal was a celebration.

Matsui, the Yankees' left fielder, agreed to a four-year contract worth $52 million last night. The deal was never really in doubt. The Yankees wanted Matsui back and had the money to keep him. But the contract was not completed until about two hours before last night's midnight deadline.

''I'm pleased that we were able to complete a deal,'' Tellem said last night in a telephone interview during a brief break in his dinner with Matsui. ''Hideki's heart has always been with the Yankees, and this has always been where he wanted to play and hopefully finish his career. He hopes to retire in a Yankee uniform.''

Matsui's previous contract stipulated that the Yankees had to release him and allow him to become a free agent if they did not sign him by Nov. 15. They would have then lost their rights to re-sign Matsui for six months.

Tellem stayed in nearly constant contact with General Manager Brian Cashman over the last few days, including a meeting that lasted nearly two hours Monday night and did not end until around 1 a.m.

''We're in the red zone right now and trying to pull it together,'' Cashman said early last night. ''We've been on the phone all day together.''

The Yankees plan to hold a news conference at Yankee Stadium today. The signing will have special significance to the Japanese news media, because it will make Matsui the highest-paid Japanese player in the majors, surpassing Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who makes $11 million a year.

In keeping with the Yankees' policy, Matsui's deal will not include any performance bonuses. The Yankees pay awards bonuses only if they inherit a deal that already includes them, as with Alex Rodriguez's contract. Rodriguez received an extra $1 million -- on top of his average annual salary of $25.2 million -- for winning the Most Valuable Player award.

In signing before last night's deadline, Matsui forfeited his chance to test the free-agent market; he would have been among the best players available. Tellem could have probably found a club to overpay for Matsui, as the Detroit Tigers did last winter for Magglio Ord? (five years, $75 million).

Clearly, though, Matsui had an interest in staying in New York. He came to the Yankees from the Yomiuri Giants, considered the Yankees' Japanese equivalent because of their tradition and prominence. Matsui had said he was not afraid to change teams, but staying with the Yankees will keep his sparkling image intact.

The Yankees expected to pay roughly $50 million over four years for Matsui, and the final number was not far from that. Matsui will make roughly the same salary as right fielder Gary Sheffield, though some of Sheffield's three-year, $39 million contract is deferred.

The issue of Sheffield's deferrals rankled him last spring, and now another player on the team has a comparable salary. But Sheffield gets along well with Matsui, pointing to him often as a valuable run producer, and the Yankees could mollify Sheffield by picking up his 2007 option during spring training.

Matsui, 31, has played in all 487 games since joining the Yankees before the 2003 season. He has driven in 100 runs in each of his first three seasons; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other player to do that since 1940 is Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Matsui hit .305 last season, his best average with the Yankees and a figure aided by his exceptional performance against left-handers. Matsui hit .354 against lefties, the highest average in the majors among left-handed hitters.

The Yankees also surely recognized Matsui's performances against the Boston Red Sox in deciding to retain him for four years. Including two American League Championship Series, Matsui is a career .333 hitter against Boston, with 9 homers and 50 runs batted in in more than 270 at-bats.

Matsui's biggest disappointment as a Yankee was probably his performance in the division series against the Angels in October, when he went 5 for 20. Matsui left eight runners on base in the final game and made the last out of the season, bouncing to first base as the potential go-ahead run.

Now, at least, Matsui knows he will have four more chances to help the Yankees win.

Yankees Retain Sturtze

As they search for setup relievers on the free-agent market, the Yankees made sure to keep one of their own yesterday. They picked up their $1.5 million option on the right-hander Tanyon Sturtze, who had a 4.73 earned run average in 64 games last season.

''It was a no-brainer,'' General Manager Brian Cashman said. ''He's a competitor. Hopefully, we'll surround him with others to lighten his load so he finishes strong, because we leaned on him so heavily.''

Sturtze had a 6.07 E.R.A. in the second half, when he lost about three miles an hour off his 95-m.p.h. fastball. Sturtze admitted that his shoulder was tired, but Cashman said a magnetic resonance imaging exam after the season showed no damage.

The Yankees are pursuing several free agents to strengthen the bridge to closer Mariano Rivera. They have shown interest in the left-handers B. J. Ryan and Scott Eyre and the right-hander Kyle Farnsworth. But Cashman does not have many appealing options.

''It's not a very strong free-agent class, period,'' he said. ''Everybody needs a setup man, and there are 30 clubs. There are not 30 quality setup guys on the market. It's thin.''

The Yankees would like to re-sign Tom Gordon, though he would prefer to be a closer elsewhere and wants a three-year contract. The Yankees would rather give a two-year deal to Gordon, who turns 38 on Friday.

Photos: Left fielder Hideki Matsui reached into the stands to catch a foul ball during the division series. He will be patrolling left field for the Yankees for four more years. (Photo by Chang W. Lee/The New York Times); With Matsui, left, signed, the Yankees must look for a replacement for Bernie Williams. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)